| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
17 Jun 2009 : Column 327W—continued
Environment Agency
HM Revenue and Customs
Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park
South Cambridgeshire District Council
Government Departments: Capital Investment
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the proceeds from asset and property sales available to Departments for accounting in their capital budgets in the next five years. [279257]
Mr. Byrne: Estimates of central Government asset sales up to 2010-11 can be found in the ‘Budget 2009: the economy and public finances—supplementary material’, on table 2.3. This is available at
The Operational Efficiency Programme reported at Budget 2009 on areas for potential future Government asset sales. The full report can be found at
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/oep_final_report 210409_pu728.pdf
Estimates of proceeds available to Departments after 2011-12 will be provided at future fiscal events.
As set out in the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance, the current budgeting framework is designed to ensure that most proceeds from fixed asset sales are made available to Departments. This is set out in sections 7.20 to 7.25 of the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance, available at
Government Departments: Procurement
Justine Greening: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made towards implementation of the recommendations in the May 2009 review Operational Efficiency Programme: collaborative procurement (a) to empower commercial directors in Government departments to agree targets for uptake of collaborative strategies for each non departmental public body and executive agency within their department, (b) for review groups to monitor the collaborative procurement performance of Government departments and (c) for Office of Government Commerce to (i) agree a Government eProcurement policy, (ii) expand the contracts database and (iii) perform an investment appraisal for a central eAuction Centre of Excellence. [279780]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 15 June 2009]: A supplementary report to the Operational Efficiency Programme Final Report, explaining how the collaborative procurement recommendations will be delivered, was published on 13 May 2009, and is available at:
Actions are under way to address all of the recommendations and progress will be published in the autumn pre-Budget report.
Housing: Finance
Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much of the package for housing announced in the 2009 Budget is to be funded from (a) bringing forward budgets from future years, (b) the Consolidated Fund, (c) public borrowing and (d) other means. [272506]
Ian Pearson: The policy decisions made at the Budget are set out in Chapter A of the Budget document. The 2009 Budget announced a £500 million fund for England to stimulate housing development in the short-term and boost capacity in the house building industry in the long term. This includes £100 million in funding for local authorities to deliver new energy efficient social housing and £400 million to unlock currently stalled housing developments. The package is funded through additional borrowing none of which has been brought forward from future budgets.
Housing: Valuation
Robert Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 3 February 2009, Official Report, column 1006W, on the Valuation Office: South East, (1) if he will rank each individual locality reference in each valuation area in the East Midlands according to its value significance; [279882]
Mr. Timms: A list of locality reference numbers, ranked in order of value significance by valuation area within the Valuation Office Agency’s West Midlands Group, has been placed in the Library. The list is based on data extracted between 27 February 2009 and 2 March 2009.
Information that identifies the extent and location of each locality, relative to the list of numbers that ranks each individual locality, is commercially confidential.
Robert Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 27 April 2009, Official Report, column 1043W, on council tax: valuation, if he will rank each individual locality reference in each valuation area in the West Midlands according to its value significance. [279883]
Mr. Timms: A list of locality reference numbers, ranked in order of value significance by valuation area within the Valuation Office Agency’s West Midlands Group, has been placed in the Library. The list is based on data extracted between 27 February 2009 and 2 March 2009.
Information that identifies the extent and location of each locality, relative to the list of numbers that ranks each individual locality, is commercially confidential.
Robert Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 27 April 2009, Official Report, column 1043W, on council tax: valuation, what the average number of dwellings is in each locality group in England. [279884]
Mr. Timms: On 11 June 2009, the average number of dwellings per locality group in England was 5,809.
Robert Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many domestic property transaction records the HM Revenue and Customs Stamp Duty Office provided to the Valuation Office Agency in 2008-09. [280038]
Mr. Timms: The total number of transactions received from the Stamp Taxes Office between 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009 was 979,510 of which approximately 90 per cent. (881,559) are domestic transactions.
Income Tax: Tax Rates and Bands
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what (a) proposals he has considered and (b) discussions he has had on amendment of the lower rate of income tax in the last nine months; and if he will make a statement. [279975]
Mr. Timms: Treasury Ministers and officials receive proposals and have discussions with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such discussions.
Local Government: Pensions
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the deficit in the Local Government Pension Scheme counts towards national public sector debt. [273600]
Mr. Byrne: Public sector net debt is compiled by the independent Office for National Statistics and is drawn from the National Accounts. It does not reflect any surplus or deficit in the individual funds constituting the Local Government Pension Scheme. Communities and Local Government publishes amalgamated Local Government Pension Scheme statistical data on their website and details can be found at the following address:
Details on the individual local government pension funds can be found at the following address:
Northern Rock
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the most recent timetable is for repayment of loans advanced to Northern Rock. [279980]
Ian Pearson: The Government announced on 23 February of this year that in order to enable Northern Rock to undertake increased levels of new lending, the bank will be restructured so that the back book of mortgages is managed separately to its other business.
The Government also announced at the time that they will increase the loan to Northern Rock and extend the repayment schedule. The Government are continuing to work with Northern Rock to finalise the details of the restructuring, based on achieving maximum value for the taxpayer and with a view to creating a viable entity for sale at a later date. Further details will be published once a final plan has been agreed.
Personal Income
Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) median and (b) mean gross household income was for a household comprising (i) two working age adults and two children, (ii) one working age adult and two children, (iii) one working age adult and one child, (iv) two working age adults and four children, (v) two working age adults and (vi) one working age adult in the latest 12 month period for which information is available. [278272]
Jim Knight: I have been asked to reply.
The following table shows the median and mean gross household income for the household types requested.
| Median and mean gross unequivalised household income (£ per week), for various household types, United Kingdom, 2007-08 | ||
| Gross unequivalised household income | ||
| Household type | Median | Mean |
| n/a = Not available Notes: These statistics are based on Households Below Average Income (HBAI), sourced from the Family Resources Survey. Small differences should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. The reference period for HBAI figures is single financial years. The income measure used here is unequivalised, i.e. it has not been adjusted for household size and composition. This is because the groups requested are based on household size and composition, and in this specific instance, equivalisation would cloud the comparison between household types. This means that the statistics presented are on a different basis to those in the HBAI publication. Median household incomes are less affected by outliers, and are therefore generally more commonly used in analysis of incomes. In particular, the sample size for households containing two working age adults and four children is relatively small, so estimates for this group are subject to a higher degree of sampling error than the other groups presented. This particularly affects the mean, where no robust estimate can be produced. Gross incomes have been presented. The HBAI publication looks at net disposable incomes Before and After Housing Costs. While the statistics cover individuals who are of working age, not all individuals will be working. Source: Households Below Average Income, 2007-08 | ||
Pregnant Women: Grants
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many health in pregnancy grants have been disbursed. [279211]
Mr. Timms: From its introduction on 6 April 2009 and up to 30 April, HM Revenue and Customs disbursed 80,000 Health in Pregnancy grants. Data after this date are not yet available.
Public Expenditure
Mr. Spring: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the change in (a) current, (b) capital and (c) all public expenditure in real terms between 2011-12 to 2013-14. [279711]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 16 June 2009]: Over 2011-12 to 2013-14, public sector current expenditure (PSCE) is set to grow at an average of 0.7 per cent. a year in real terms, and public sector net investment (PSNI) will move to 1.25 per cent. of GDP by 2013-14.
Public Expenditure: Wales
Hywel Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what publication sets out the Government’s budgeting rules for EU receipts in respect of Wales. [280205]
Mr. Byrne: The Government’s budgeting rules regarding EU receipts in respect of Wales are set out in the Statement of Funding Policy published by the Treasury in October 2007.
Public Finance
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to publish the next long-term public finance report. [279255]
Mr. Byrne: As set out in Budget 2009, the next long-term public finance report will be published in 2009.
Public Sector: Pensions
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 2 April 2009, Official Report, columns 1390-91W, on public sector pensions, what estimate he made of the cost to his Department of calculating a revised estimate of the potential net saving in employer costs for the pension schemes for the NHS, teachers and Civil Service over the 50-year period. [276661]
Mr. Byrne: Revised estimates of capitalised savings, such as were calculated in 2005 before scheme reforms were fully developed, are not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The packages of reforms vary considerably between schemes, as will the effects on employer pension contributions and payments of pension benefits. Detailed questions about the financial effects are for the Departments responsible for the schemes.
Regional Economic Council
Robert Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 27 April 2009, Official Report, column 1046W, on the Regional Economic Council, what the name of each local government representative is. [279791]
Ian Pearson: Local authorities are represented at the Regional Economic Council by the Chair of the Local Government Association and by regional representatives nominated by the Local Government Association. These representatives are drawn from members of the LGA, but are selected in advance of each meeting. It is not, therefore, possible to list members’ names.
Revenue and Customs: Standards
Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what target has been set in respect of the time taken by HM Revenue and Customs to process a claim for (a) a National Insurance contribution refund, (b) an inheritance tax refund and (c) a capital gains tax refund; and what the (i) average and (ii) maximum time taken to process such a claim was in the latest period for which figures are available. [278868]
Mr. Timms: Both national insurance contribution refunds and inheritance tax repayments are processed in line with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) departmental objective 2, i.e. 80 per cent. of cases to be cleared within 15 working days and 95 per cent. to be cleared within 40 working days. These targets were met in 2008-09.
All repayments due for capital gains tax are made under the self-assessment system. Refunds made from online self-assessment returns are normally made within seven days. For paper returns HMRC identify returns on receipt marked ‘repayment’ and process these as priority. HMRC seek to strike a balance between issuing repayments as quickly as possible for the benefit of customers and ensuring Exchequer protection.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |